Articles
The Source of His Courage—and Ours
Have you ever wondered what you would have done if you had been on the scene when Goliath came out to challenge anyone to a fight? Even though King Saul had promised the victor great rewards, there were no takers.
Until David came along.
If he felt any fear in facing Goliath, it is certainly not apparent. He approaches the giant with complete confidence that he would succeed. And he did.
So, what was the source of David’s courage?
Unlike the Israelite army he saw the situation from a totally different perspective. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam. 17:26). David factored God into the equation and got a different answer from everyone else.
They saw it as Goliath vs. Israel. David saw it as Goliath vs. God. And he knew which one was bigger—no question!
As David told Saul, “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine” (vv. 36-37).
David understood what Saul and Israel did not. It is not a matter of weapons or armor or size or experience. It’s a matter of absolute confidence in what God can do. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
So David could say to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
“This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands . . . and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel . . . . it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” (vv. 45-47).
As David wrote, “The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1).
Now if we would just believe that . . . .
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
